Hetalia Short Christmas Stories
by TranquilRaven
Summary: A collection of short Christmas stories featuring different Hetalia characters.
1. Christmas Beginnings (England & America)

**Characters:** Arthur (England) and Alfred (America)

 **Special Thanks:** I would like to thank my two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Rain poured down from the sky as a cold breeze cut through the layers of warmth from Arthur's coat causing him to shiver. The beginning of December had just begun and Arthur already wasn't looking forward to the rest of the month. He would be more than happy for the New Year to start, maybe then his people might know what direction they want to go in. So far everything seemed to be up in the air with no one knowing the difference between left and right. It was all starting to give him a major headache.

Arthur sighed from under his umbrella knowing that dwelling on the problem wouldn't help matters. In fact his plans for the rest of the evening once he got in was to make a nice cup of tea and just relax with a good book. Let his people deal with their problems without him for awhile, not like it was his fault they were in this mess. They just dragged him along for the ride.

As he started to walk up the path to his house, Arthur paused mid-step and blinked. He walked back down the path to check the street sign before looking back at the house. "Bloody hell…" he muttered, taking the sight in before him. That was definitely his house before him, though he knew it didn't look like _that_ before he left for work.

The house before him was covered in an array of Christmas decorations, from colourful flashing lights to various inflatable characters, a massive Santa that loomed over the left side of his house being one of them. It was a surprise you could still see the house with the amount of decorations surrounding it and the glare from all the lights.

Glaring at his house Arthur made his way to his front door, half tempted to knock over one of the light up reindeer's that he went by.

It seemed someone had invited themselves to his place _uninvited_ and proceeded to decorate his house in such a ghastly fashion _without_ his permission. He knew _exactly_ who that someone was and once he got his hands on that bugger he was going to-

"Arthur you're back!" exclaimed Alfred as he threw the door open upon noticing the Englishman's return, said door almost hitting Arthur in the face. He grinned at his friend but his grin faltered upon noticing the look on Arthur's face. "Um… Arthur?" he questioned once he noticed his friend just standing there and not responding. Alfred looked behind him to where Arthur was gazing at, "Ah… um, Merry early Christmas?" he said trailing off.

Perhaps he had gone too far with the decorations.

A small strangled sound came out of Arthur's lips as he made his way indoors, mechanically putting his coat and umbrella in their respective places, the sound of the front door shutting behind him. Ignoring the American, he then moved as though on auto pilot towards the living room, sat down on his favourite armchair and closed his eyes, a small sigh escaping his mouth as exhaustion finally caught up to him.

He should have realised the inside of his house would be decorated just as badly as the outside, since this was _Alfred_ they were talking about. Arthur snorted to himself and shook his head in a mixture of fondness and annoyance. Well no point in being angry, what's done was done. It's not like it was the worst thing Alfred had done, considering last year Alfred almost burnt his house down while making an iced gingerbread loaf in the oven. Somehow the idiot had forgotten that his oven was English, making it a Celsius oven and ended up putting the oven temperature for the loaf in Fahrenheit.

"I do hope you realise it will be you that has to take down all these appalling decorations." announced Arthur as he opened his eyes and looked at the American who was now standing in the middle of the living room.  
"Of course." acknowledged Alfred.  
"And you will be paying for the cost of having all these lights on." Arthur stated.  
"Okay, that's fair." Alfred agreed. "You're… not mad?" he asked having expected the Englishman to have at least ranted at him for the decorations, for even he admitted it was a bit early for such things, not that it stopped him putting them all up. If not that, then at least for entering Arthur's home unannounced or uninvited. Again.

Arthur rolled his eyes and sunk further back into his armchair, "Of course I'm a little bit mad you dolt, but that's hardly stopped you from doing things before. Besides, I'm too tired from work to be having a go at you, dealing with my new boss is frustrating." he mentioned, not bothering to go into detail. "Anyway, what brings you here so early? I wasn't expecting you over until at least the 20th."

"Um.. yeah guess it hasn't." Alfred laughed, a smile forming on his face. "Well... I was starting to get bored on my own and since everyone else has kind of been ignoring me lately because of you know what, so I decided why not come here earlier." said Alfred as he shrugged his shoulders.

A grimace appeared on Arthur's face as he winced in sympathy. Everyone had been giving him the silent treatment not that long ago, though the only one who still kept that up at this point was his older brother Alistair, the ungrateful git. Arthur suddenly jumped in surprise as Alfred was now stood in front of him.

"Besides," started Alfred as he leant down slightly towards Arthur. "'Tis the season to be spent with your loved ones after all." he said, quickly kissing Arthur on the forehead and dashing off into the kitchen in retreat to make some warm drinks for themselves. "Is earl grey tea okay with you?" Alfred yelled from the kitchen.

"Y-yes." stammered Arthur, a slight blush adorning his cheeks as he groaned into his hands letting a small smile appear on his face. _Idiot_ , he thought fondly.

Perhaps an early Christmas wasn't such a bad thing after all.


	2. Simply Relaxing (Bulgaria & Romania)

**Characters:** Aleksandar (Bulgaria) and Valeriu (Romania)

 **Special Thanks:** I would like to thank my two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Aleksandar reached out his left hand to pick up the warm hot chocolate as he flicked over to the next page of _two cats, one tail_ , a gift given to him by Herakles. Smiling in content he took a sip of the drink before he looked up at the time. Suppose he had better check on his Romanian friend he had left in the study two hours ago.

It was the second day of December and he had been invited by Valeriu to stay over for a few days at his place, since it had been the Romanians birthday yesterday.

At first Aleksandar was hesitant to accept since he was so busy with work what with all the protests and everything, but his boss said it was fine and told him in not so many words to only come back when he had decided to stop nodding or shaking his head in response to things and regained his ability to speak.

He snorted and shook his head as he placed both the book and now finished hot chocolate down on the table, making sure to mark where he was on said book. He then rose from the chair he was sat on and grabbed the lamp from the table, lighting it with a match and heading out into the dark hallway.

It was hardly his fault that everyone else said what he had wanted to say, what was the point in repeating things? He really didn't feel like talking anyway half of the time. Though now was not the time to be thinking about work, he was here to have fun, relax and try not to get lost in his friend's castle. _Great… I've gone and got lost. Again. Why did Valeriu decide to make this castle his home?_

Despite having been round the Romanian's loads of times before, he kept getting lost every single time he went over. He swore the various corridors and passageways within the castle changed where they were each time. For everyone except Valeriu himself got lost within these walls; even Sadik claimed this place must be haunted and swore that he heard the castle laugh at him once when he somehow took the wrong corridor despite it being the one he had originally come from. While yes the castle was most likely haunted considering this was Valeriu's place and everyone knew of his love for the creepy and scary, he was pretty sure inanimate buildings or objects did not laugh… least he really hoped not.

Slowly he made his way down another dark passageway, the lamp being his only course of light since the majority of the castle had yet to have lights installed and only had sconces on the wall that you had to light up with a match or lighter.

Aleksandar cheered to himself in delight as he eventually found where the study was. He raised his hand and knocked three times, "Valeriu?" he called out. After a few more seconds of no response Aleksandar decided to let himself into the room only to pause in the middle of the doorway at the sight that appeared before him.

 _What an earth has he been doing? I only left him alone for two hours..._

Scattered across the room laid piles of various books, some left wide open and revealing pages upon pages of an ancient language thought long to be dead. Though to him it looked like just a bunch of scribbles. Black scorch marks covered the walls and random bits of paper with notes and doodles also laid across the floor, some he noted in concern had caught on fire, though strangely enough the fire didn't seem to be catching onto anything else.

In the middle of the room was the culprit, sprawled out sleeping on the gothic looking writing desk and drooling on some notes.

Aleksandar sighed and walked over to his friend. "Two hours." he stated to himself quietly, half tempted to whack his friend upside the back of the head. One for somehow making such a mess in a short amount of time and two… _well it might knock some sense into him._

Though as he looked at the sleepy form of his friend as he mumbled in his sleep he knew he couldn't do that, so he just grabbed a blanket that was folded on a nearby chair and placed it around his friends shoulder's, careful not to wake him up.

He then glanced over some of the notes on the desk and frowned as he read what was written on some of them. "Bring snow to Ivan for Christmas? But… Ivan already has a lot of snow, because well… _Russia_." spoke Aleksandar in bewilderment. What was Valeriu up to?

Reading more of the scribbled notes Aleksandar quickly managed to connect the dots and let a small chuckle escape his lips. It would seem he planned, along with someone else, to give Ivan so much snow he wouldn't be able to leave his house for days, possibly weeks. " _Honestly_ … the things you get up to. While I might help you tidy up, don't come to me when Ivan comes after you." he mumbled in a mixture of amusement and affection, despite knowing his friend couldn't hear him with being asleep.

After deciding to tidy the room up a bit and take care of the small fires - how the fire didn't spread was still a mystery - he quietly made his way back out of the study and back towards the room he was originally in.

The journey this time around seemed a lot quicker and in no time Aleksandar found himself sat back down in the chair he was in with _two cats, one tail_ in his hands.

A sigh of contentment left his lips as he began to read from where he had left off.

Perhaps tomorrow he and Valeriu could spend some time together in the nearby village for the Christmas festival before they had to part ways once again but until then he would just relax and let the world drift by.

For that was how Christmas holidays should be spent.  
Simply relaxing, with no worries.


	3. Together With You (France & Canada)

**Characters:** Francis (France) and Matthew (Canada)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Clear blue eyes glanced up in amusement and concern towards the Canadian who was pacing up and down the living room. "Mathieu, mon chéri…"(*1) said Francis affectionately. "Do sit down before you make a hole in my lovely floor, it's making me dizzy just watching you."

"Sorry." came the meek reply from Matthew as he sat down next to Francis.

"Now what seems to be troubling you?" questioned Francis, despite having a rough idea of what had been gnawing at the young man's mind for a few days. Sometimes it was best to let people talk in their own time and not force the issue, but Francis could tell Matthew needed to unload already before he went and did something stupid. "You know bottling things up never helps."

Matthew sighed and rubbed his face as he looked towards the Frenchman "I know, I know… but I just can't help _worrying_ about them," spoke Matthew. "No one even knows what's really going on or what direction things are going in and everything just seems like one big _mess…_ " Matthew trailed off as he groaned into his hands.

A small hum left Francis's mouth as he listened to Matthew. They were both worried about Arthur and Alfred, the two idiots that they were, but… "They'll be fine," said Francis placing his right hand on Matthew's shoulder and squeezing it in reassurance. "Things won't be easy for them but they will pull through, they always do. Also we'll always be here for them to talk to should they need it." Francis mentioned.

"They do… and yeah..." said Matthew a small smile appearing on his face, his mind a lot calmer than it was a few moments ago. He would still worry but he guessed there wasn't much they could do, just be there if the others needed it.  
"Thanks." he said pecking Francis on the cheek and rising from the sofa. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall and noticed it was past lunch time and neither of them had had anything to eat yet.

He heard a small rumble from Francis's stomach and his own stomach soon followed suit. Both of them smiled at each other and Matthew let out a quiet laugh, blushing slightly. "Will pancakes be okay for a late lunch?" Matthew asked, slowly making his way to the kitchen.

"Oui(*2), that will be fine." replied Francis as he looked back down at the Christmas cards in his hands that he had been working on, a smile still on his face.

Inside the kitchen Matthew began making the preparations for the pancakes, a small tune that Francis had once sung to him escaping his lips as he first washed his hands.

Soon the pancakes were done and Matthew returned to the living room carrying the food in on a tray and placing it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He quickly dashed back into the kitchen and grabbed the two drinks he had made for them both placing them beside the pancakes; a warm hot chocolate for himself and a glass of wine for Francis.

Easing himself back down on the sofa food in hand Matthew glanced over to what Francis was doing. "How far have you gotten with the Christmas cards?" he asked.

"Hmm? I've actually already finished. I was just checking through them to make sure I got everyone and I think I have." Francis mentioned as he grabbed his own lunch up off the coffee table and placed all but one of the cards down. "Here, what do you think of this one." he said, passing over the card to Matthew.

Matthew took the offered card and slowly read the message inside before handing it back to Francis, a smile on his face. "It's sweet." he commented, glad it didn't have any similar messages to last year's Christmas cards. For insulting one's cooking or lack of - even if it was true - was not something you put in a card, dare or not.

"Well of course it is! I am after all, where all the feelings of amour(*3) come from." declared Francis, placing the card down as he winked at Matthew.

A snort left Matthew's mouth as he decided not to comment on the Frenchman's declaration, causing the other man to gasp in mock-hurt and press a hand over his heart, only for them both to end up laughing at the Frenchman's antics.

It wasn't long before the two of them finished their lunch and drinks, placing them back upon the coffee table to be washed up later. The hum of the television came on in the background as Francis decided to turn it on with the remote control.

A yawn escaped Matthew as he cuddled up next to the Frenchman, tiredness finally catching up to him as he had spent the last few days worrying too much and only now did his mind seem at ease. "Shame we can't spend all our time like this…" mumbled Matthew, the warmth of Francis and the noise from the television managing to lull him into a state of sleepiness.

"Oui, it is." agreed Francis, placing an arm around Matthew and pulling the Canadian closer. "I rather like having you all to myself." he casually mentioned as he flicked through the programmes on the television.

"You know what I mean." chuckled Matthew as he swatted Francis's leg with his free arm. Another yawn left Matthew as he attempted to snuggle closer to Francis. "Maybe I could try and get Alfred to make it Christmas all year round... eh?" he murmured sleepily, knowing the American would probably give it a shot, if he hadn't tried to already.

Slowly Matthew's eyes closed shut, sleep pulling at him. Though before he succumbed to the darkness of sleep, he heard a soft voice call out to him through the haze.

" _Sleep well Mathieu, mon chéri…"_

* * *

 **Translations:**  
1\. Mon chéri (m) - my darling  
2\. Oui - yes  
3\. Amour - love


	4. Joys of Siblings (Scotland & Sealand)

**Characters:** Alistair (Scotland) and Peter (Sealand)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

"It's too cold!" complained Peter as he attempted to disappear into his coat in attempt to keep warm, the cold breeze in the air causing him to shiver.  
You're the one that wanted to head into the village." grumbled Alistair.  
"You never said it would get this cold though!" whined Peter.  
"It's winter you idiot!" snapped Alistair, fed up of Peter complaining for what seemed like the tenth time already. "What did ye think the weather was going to be like?"

Peter huffed in response as he continued to walk next to his brother, the weather slowly beginning to worsen. He had honestly forgotten how cold it could get in Scotland around this time of year, since it wasn't often he went to visit the Scottish man but he wasn't about to tell his brother that. He was insufferable enough as it was.

Over the course of the month Peter had decided he would visit each one of his elder brothers as a sort of Christmas surprise, also he didn't really get to see any of them much what with living with Tino and Berwald. Though he was starting to think maybe he should've gone to visit his friends in Europe instead. It might of been warmer there too. _No brother to have a go at me either…_

Suddenly a slightly warm coat was wrapped around his shoulders, successfully keeping the worst of the cold out and warming him up slightly. Peter looked at his brother in question, tilting his head slightly, "Won't you get cold?" he asked.

"Were almost home, besides your death would mean too much paperwork and Arthur would have my head." muttered Alistair, putting his hands under his arms and picking up the pace slightly.

A smile appeared on Peter's face as he quickened his steps so he could keep with with his brother. Perhaps his brother wasn't so bad… but he sure had a funny way of showing he cared. In fact all of his brothers did when he thought about it. Maybe it was genetic?

Eventually the duo made it inside Alistair's home in time before the worst of the weather appeared. Although the inside of the house wasn't much warmer than the outside as the heating had stopped working a few days ago. Alistair had called for someone to come and sort it out but the whole village was cut off by fallen trees and heavy snow. Unfortunately the only available person was in the nearby town a couple of miles away. It also seemed until the path was cleared and it was safe to travel again, Peter would be stuck with Alistair for a bit longer.

"Why do you have to live out in the middle of nowhere?" questioned Peter as he finally managed to take off the two coats, handing them to his brother.

"I chose to that's why." stated Alistair, putting the two coats away in the cupboard and heading straight for the living room, kicking his shoes off along the way. Once in the living room he then knelt down in front of the fireplace and tossed some small logs into it from the nearby basket. After deeming enough wood was in the fireplace he took out a cigarette and a lighter from his back pocket, proceeding to light the fire with said lighter.

"Why though? There's like nothing out here." mentioned Peter who was now sat on the sofa by the fire, hugging a pillow for extra warmth. His blue eyes watched Alistair who had got up and was now moving around the room.

"What is this, ask twenty questions day?" mumbled Alistair. "Course there's stuff out here, ye just got to be able to see it is all." replied Alistair, lighting his cigarette up with the lighter and grabbing himself a beer from the drinks cupboard.

"What like fairies?" retorted Peter, wrinkling his nose from the fumes of his brother's cigarette.

A huff left Alistair as he sat down on the armchair that was opposite Peter. "Just cause ye can't see them, don't mean they ain't there brat." mentioned Alistair, opening his beer can and taking a sip.

Peter couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips, only to end up laughing harder as his brother ended up scowling at him very much like Arthur did when annoyed. "Sorry!" puffed out Peter, slowly managing to get his laughter under control. "Just, you and Arthur end up saying the exact same thing when it comes to anything magical," he said.

Alistair snorted and just as he was about to say something back to Peter the doorbell rang.

The two brothers looked at each other in confusion and shrugged since neither of them had invited anyone over, not that they would be able to get here anyway. Figuring it might be one of the village folks asking for help or something Alistair placed his drink and cigarette down before rising from where he was sat and went to the front-door, Peter following curiously behind.

As Alistair opened the door he frowned in confusion upon seeing no one there, the only evidence of anyone having of been there though was a brown medium sized package at the doorstep. He squinted through the falling snow and vaguely noticed a small green looking bunny flying away in the distance. "Huh… wonder what Arthur could of possibly dropped off…" he wondered aloud as he picked up the package and closed the door behind him before all the heat escaped the house.

"Arthur?" mumbled Peter in confusion, following Alistair back into the living room and sitting back on the sofa.

A hum left Alistair's mouth as he sat back down, turning the package over in his hands. It didn't look like a Christmas present - not that he thought Arthur would give him one since it wasn't something they normally did - so he decided to open it.

As Alistair opened the package a small note fell onto the his lap, the words 'Merry early Christmas, thought you might want this sooner, git' neatly written in Arthur's handwriting.

Alistair raised his eyebrows at the note and looked up as he heard Peter start laughing in hysterics. Wondering what could be so funny Alistair finally looked down at the gift Arthur had given him.

In his hands was a brightly coloured book and upon reading the title he groaned in dismay as realised what Peter had found so funny. He then scowled in a mixture of annoyance and fondness, throwing the book onto the coffee table and heading into the kitchen to make tea, leaving Peter to continue laughing in the living room. Honestly what did he do to end up with the brothers he had and perhaps he had raised Arthur too well… not that he would trade any of them for the world.

Sat on the coffee table in the living room was the brightly coloured book, the words 'An idiot's guide to independence' written on the front.


	5. Idiots (Germany, N Italy & Prussia)

**Characters:** Ludwig (Germany), Feliciano (North Italy) and Gilbert (Prussia)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Laughter rang throughout the area as children ran around the park having fun with the snow and enjoying what was left of the daylight, their parents watching over them, some even joining in. Ludwig also noticed various Christmas decorations hung from the street lamps as he walked down the path by the river bank walking his three dogs; Blackie, Aster and Berlitz. He was glad the weather had remained okay so he could walk his dogs, though he was starting to think it wasn't his dogs he was walking but the two idiots that were running on ahead of him throwing snowballs at each other. A bit too close to the edge of the river he noted.

"Don't run too close to the edge!" shouted Ludwig. Only seconds after having said that he watched his older brother suddenly slip on the icy path and almost into the river. He shook his head and wondered not for the first time what went on in his brother's head to think that running on an icy path was a good idea. You wouldn't think him and Gilbert were brothers though looking at them as they looked completely different; you were even less likely to believe that Gilbert was in fact the older one of them with the way he acted sometimes.

An exasperated sigh left Ludwig as he watched his friend Feliciano do the exact same thing as his brother and land on his backside. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered...

Even from a distance he could hear their laughter and as he finally caught up to them he could see them throwing snow at each other while still sat on the ground. Ludwig facepalmed with his free hand, well it wouldn't be his fault if they caught a cold, although he knew he'd end up being the one to help them get better if they did.

All of a sudden a snowball landed in Ludwig's face.

"Gil, that was mean," commented Feliciano as he got himself off the ground.  
"Yeah but look at his face, priceless!" Gilbert snickered, also getting up from the floor.  
"Chirp!" cheeped Gilbird from Gilbert's head as though in agreement with its owner.  
"Gilbert!" bellowed Ludwig, not finding it funny at all as his face was now sore and wet from the snow.  
"That's my cue to run," announced Gilbert running off towards the market place, laughing as he went.

Feliciano let out a small chuckle as he watched Gilbert run off before moving in front of Ludwig, "It was slightly funny," he admitted, a small smile on his face. "It's nice though, being able to hang out like this and have fun~" he said, taking out a tissue from the pocket of his shirt and wiping Ludwig's face with it.

"Hmm… while I admit spending time together like this is nice, I don't particularly enjoy snowballs being thrown at my face each Christmas," stated Ludwig, blushing slightly at having his face cleaned by Feliciano.

"Ve~ That's Gilbert for you though," said Feliciano, putting away the tissue once he deemed Ludwig's face cleaned. He then took hold of Ludwig's free hand causing the German to blush more. "Speaking of, we should probably follow after him," added Feliciano.

A nod left Ludwig as he walked with Feliciano after his brother, his three dogs walking calmly on the other side of him.

"Hey guys, over here!" yelled Gilbert from between a group of people, a strawberry ice-cream held in one hand and the other waving above his head so he could be seen. Not that he was very hard to spot, being the only Albino in the area and with a fluffy yellow chick perched on top of his head.

"Isn't it a bit… cold for ice-cream?" asked Ludwig once he and Feliciano made it to where his brother was, the very idea of eating something so cold sending shivers down his spine.

"Of course not! Here why don't you try some of mine," spoke Feliciano, holding up his own ice-cream having just paid for it.

Ludwig glanced from the ice-cream to Feliciano's eyes and sighed knowing he couldn't say no to the Italian. "Alright…" he concurred, leaning down to take a bit of the offered ice-cream. A minty flavour filled his mouth as well as a hint of banana, the mixture of flavours not as unpleasant as he thought they would be, though he still found it too cold. "It's… not bad," Ludwig offered in response. He then jumped slightly in surprise as Feliciano suddenly licked the corner of his mouth, a blush appearing on his face.

"You had some ice-cream there." smiled Feliciano, turning around and heading further into the market, a small tune escaping his lips as he went.

"Aww, my baby brother is blushing," cooed Gilbert, poking at his brother's cheeks.

"Gilbert!" snapped Ludwig, his cheeks heating up even more, this time in embarrassment.

"How they grow up so fast…" Gilbert spoke aloud, poking his brother's cheek one last time before heading after the Italian, a trail of kesesesese's leaving his mouth as he went.

A groan escaped Ludwig as he buried his face in his free hand. He was surrounded by idiots.

Though as he followed after Feliciano and Gilbert, he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his mouth.


	6. Happy Birthday Finland! (Nordics)

**Characters:** Tino (Finland), Berwald (Sweden), Mathias (Denmark), Lukas (Norway) and Emil (Iceland)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Snow lightly fell from the sky as Tino walked down the street enjoying the slight breeze in the air and gazing at the Christmas decorations people had hung around their houses as he went. He smiled as he went past some kids attempting to make a snowman, waving to them as they shouted Merry Christmas to him. How he loved this time of year, the decorations and the food, not to mention the snow that came with it.

Soon Tino made it to his home he shared with Berwald, a sigh of contentment leaving him as he entered the house and shut the door behind him. While he did enjoy the cold weather it was also nice to come back to a warm house after a long hard day at work. It was also especially nice coming home to Berwald and Peter, though for the rest of the month Peter had decided to go and visit his four older brothers who each lived in different parts of the United Kingdom.

"I'm home!" called out Tino as he hung his snow covered coat up and took of his boots.

After a few seconds of no reply Tino suddenly found himself with on armful of fluff that ended up licking his face in greeting.

"Yes, hello Hanatamago, it's nice to see you too," he said ruffling the fur on top of Hanatamago's head, wondering what had caused her to become so hyper all of a sudden, as she didn't tend to jump up at people in greeting and was normally quite calm. Tino smiled as he watched Hanatamago run back to where she had come from. He guessed it didn't matter as long as she was okay and happy.

Walking further into the house Tino slowly tilted his head in thought, wondering where Berwald was as the Swedish man had said he would be home this evening. Normally the silent man would greet him almost as soon as he walked through the door, as though knowing exactly when he would be back. He shrugged to himself and decided to head into the living room, the house oddly feeling even quieter than normal.

As Tino opened the door to the living room he jumped back in surprise as confetti was thrown in his face, a chorus of happy birthday being sung in the background.

After a few seconds of brushing the confetti out of his face Tino smiled at the occupants of the room.

"Aww guys… you really shouldn't have," said Tino, having not expected the surprise but moved that they had planned this for him. He looked around the room and took in all the birthday decorations that hung all around the place, some Christmas decorations also thrown in. In the middle of the room on a small table was a beautifully decorated cake that had a pile of gifts stacked next to it.

"Berwald wanted to give you a surprise," stated Lukas who was sat down on the sofa next to Emil.  
"So I suggested that we do a surprise party for you with all of us here," declared Mathias, leaning over the sofa. "Even Emil managed to make it here to wish you happy birthday!" he said, poking the Icelandic on the cheek.  
"Only because you broke into my house and dragged me here…" Emil muttered under his breath as he swatted Mathias's hand away.

Tino smiled in amusement as he watched the trio by the sofa start to bicker with each other. Some things never did change…

"Peter sends his regards," spoke Berwald from next to Tino, handing him a small gift.  
"Oh, how is Peter?" questioned Tino as he took the small box that had obviously been wrapped by the young boy.  
"Stuck with Alistair due to the weather, but he's having fun," replied Berwald.  
"That's good," said Tino, slowly unwrapping the present. "Wow… it's beautiful…" murmured Tino as he held a photo frame in his hands.

The photo frame was made of glass and had various shades of blue within in it, the word 'family' embossed at the bottom. Tino smiled as he looked at the photo that was placed in the frame above the writing. It was a photo of himself and Berwald at the beach, each holding one of Peter's hands as they lifted him up in the air.

"Hey, that looks like some of the glass stuff Berwald makes," commented Mathias who was now leaning over Tino's shoulder having stopped bickering with Lukas and Emil.  
"It's called glass crafts," corrected Lukas from next to the Dane.  
"I did help Peter make it," admitted Berwald. "Though it was Peter's idea."  
"The photo's cute…" murmured Emil as he had come over to see what the fuss was about.  
"Damn, it sure is," Mathias agreed having only just looked at the photo. "That's one fine gift Peter got you there," he noted.  
"Speaking of gifts, you have a lot more over here to open too," he said as he walked over to the middle of the room, Lukas and Emil following after him.

"Are you okay Tino?" queried Berwald upon noticing tears escaping the Finnish man's eyes.

Tino looked up at Berwald and nodded as he wiped at the tears of happiness that were threatening to fall from his eyes, clutching the frame close to his chest.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright," Tino replied taking hold of Berwald's hand with his free one and squeezing it slightly. "In fact… I've never felt happier," he said, a bright smile appearing on his face.


	7. Feelings of Nostalgia (China & Family)

**Characters:** Yao (China), Mei (Taiwan), Yong Soo (South Korea), Li (Hong Kong), Hue (Vietnam) and Kasem (Thailand)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

A cold winter breeze blew across the garden, the leaves dancing in its wake, spiralling across the grass. A sigh of contentment left Yao and he stood on the garden porch, a warm cup of green tea in hand, letting his thoughts drift much like the fallen leaves.

Another year would soon pass, bringing with it many changes and new ideas.  
The world had changed much from when Yao was younger; he found it both exciting and terrifying all at once, the changes that had happened over the thousands of years. But in order to survive one had to adapt to the changes of the world, lest they fall behind and fade into the beyond, much like those he once knew. It saddened him at times, that those from long ago could no longer join in on the festivities or watch the world evolve. Though with each ending came a new beginning, bringing forth those he now held dear.

He smiled as he gazed out towards the pond in the garden. Perhaps one day in the distant future he would join those who had passed but until then he was quite happy where he was. Relaxing with a warm drink in hand and letting time slowly fady by, with no disturbance ruining the tranquillity that filled the air.

"Yao! Yong Soo is being a- Hey, I said not to do that!" yelled a feminine voice from indoors.  
"Mei is getting angry, Mei is getting angry," sang Yong Soo.  
"Yong Soo! I am not a Christmas tree!" snapped Mei.  
"Guys…" came the voice of Hue.

Least until his family members made themselves known.

A sigh left Yao as he slowly headed indoors to see what the problem was, though he could already make out it was Yong Soo being a pain again.

It wasn't long before Yao found the trio stood in the middle of the living room. He noted with some amusement that Yong Soo was trying to decorate Mei with tinsel from the decoration box she was carrying, though it looked like she wanted to throw the box at him with the glare she was giving him. If looks could kill...

Suddenly a loud thud was heard from behind Yao causing him to turn around in surprise.

"Aiyah, couldn't you have gotten a smaller tree?" groaned Yao as he watched Kasem attempt to bring in a giant Christmas tree through the doorway of his living room. Behind the giant tree he could vaguely see Li struggling to hold up the other end.  
"Um, probably," mentioned Kasem as he paused in the doorway to talk to Yao. "But we liked the look of this one, besides we made sure to measure it so we know it will fit," he explained.  
"Kasem, like stop talking and hurry up already. This tree is like, really heavy," complained Li, his grip on the tree gradually loosening.  
"Here, let me help," said Yao, placing his green tea down on the nearby table and moving to help bring in the tree.

After a few attempts they finally managed to get the Christmas tree into the living room and decided to place it at the end of the room where it would look the most pleasing. In no time the tree was up in position and ready to be decorated.

"Woo! Decoration time!" called out Yong Soo who then proceeded to take out a bunch of decorations from the box Mei had since placed on the floor; Hue, Mei and Kasem joining in.

Yao smiled as he picked his green tea back up, his brown eyes watching his family decorate the Christmas tree, or in Yong Soo's case everyone else. He was a bit saddened that Kiku had decided not to come over but he understood that Kiku had wanted to spend what time he could with Herakles before he had to go back to work.

A laugh escaped Yao as he watched the others gang up on Yong Soo and start to decorate him in Christmas decorations in revenge.

"Ahh, nothing is better than spending time with family don't you think?" a voice asked from next to Yao.

"Well… some might disagree there but… for me it's sure high up on the list of good things, aru." replied Yao, continuing to smile at his siblings' antics, far too absorbed in watching his family to really pay attention to who was talking to him.

The person next to Yao hummed in response. "Well… you've sure done a better job in guiding your family than I ever did that's for sure. They really are something aren't they?" the voice said.

Yao merely nodded in agreement, another chuckle escaping him as he watched Yong Soo try to use the Christmas tree as a shield in attempt to get away from his siblings. _Maybe I should help him out…_

"Well, I'd best be heading off now, lest Alaric has my head. Perhaps we'll see each other again some time, just don't make it any time soon, hm…?" the voice trailed off.

A frown appeared on Yao's face as he just processed what was said, the voice oddly familiar. "Romulus?!" exclaimed Yao as he suddenly turned his head to where the voice had come from, "Wait! There's something that…" he started, only to see no one there.

"Yao, stop speaking to yourself and come help us with the decorations," said Mei, pulling on the older man's arm and successfully dragging him over to where the others were.

As Yao was being dragged over towards the Christmas tree he couldn't help but glance back to where he head heard Romulus's voice, a wistful smile on his face. "I guess we will… thank you for visiting me," whispered Yao.

 _Until we meet again, old friend..._

"What was that?" asked Mei as she let go of Yao's arm, having not heard what the Chinese man just said.

"Oh, it's nothing," stated Yao as he turned back around a mischievous smile appearing on his face as he picked up a piece of tinsel from the box and instead of hanging it on the Christmas tree he hung it over Mei. He then let out a chuckle as Mei groaned into her hands.

"Not you too..." Mei mumbled, a smile tugging at her mouth.


	8. Always (Russia, Belarus & Ukraine)

**Characters:** Ivan (Russia), Natalia (Belarus) and Yekaterina (Ukraine)

 **Betas:** My two friends duckie-force and sketchygryphon (tumblr) who have been my amazing betas.

* * *

Ivan placed his hand on the window as he continued to gaze outside, the warmth of his breath causing the window to steam up slightly. He was waiting for the arrival of his older sister Yekaterina, though he was beginning to doubt that she would be able to make it what with the weather raging outside.

For a few days now there had been gale force winds battering the house and heavy snow falling from the sky, smothering everything it settled on. As each day dragged by the weather only seemed to worsen. While it was quite normal for there to be unsettled weather in Russia at this time of year it normally wasn't quite this bad. It was as though someone had taken all the snow in Russia and just dumped it on his house and the surrounding area.

A couple of hours ago Ivan had talked to General Winter to inquire about the turmoil in the weather. The old winter spirit only mentioned that he was not to blame and it was an outside source that was messing with the weather. Something about old magic being used and he couldn't stop the blizzard raging outside until the magic had run its course.

There was only a handful of people Ivan knew of that claimed to have such magical powers, even less that were able to perform ancient magic.

Now magic wasn't something Ivan particularly believed in, though he wasn't one to dismiss it entirely either. For only he seemed to be able to see General Winter and how else was Arthur able to somehow summon him from afar if not by magic?

Well whoever it was that had done this was going to regret doing so, not that there were many suspects though, only three: Valeriu, Lukas and Arthur. He really doubted it was one of the latter two so once he was able to get out of his country he was going to pay the Romanian a lovely visit and have a friendly chat with him. _Maybe I could bring General Winter along too…_

The sound of footsteps was suddenly heard from behind Ivan and he turned around only to face his younger sister Natalia.

They both stared at each other in silence for a few moments, each of them unsure what to say to the other.

"She's not coming is she…" murmured Ivan, unable to deal with the silence much longer.  
"She will," asserted Natalia.  
"It has been over five hours now Natalia," stated Ivan. "The weather hardly looks like it's going to calm down enough either…"  
"Brother, we could be under a mountain of snow and Yekaterina would still find her way to us, no amount of snow will stop her. Just give her time." said Natalia.  
"I suppose…" said Ivan. "Would she even want to come over though?" asked Ivan, turning back around to look outside the window, sadness washing over him.

There had been increased tensions between his country and Yekaterina's for quite a few years now and as each day went by it seemed to just be getting worse. As a result Ivan was finding it harder to believe that his older sister would want to spend time with him. Even he didn't want to spend time with himself half of the time…

"Ivan, we are family. We will _always_ be there for each other, no matter what does or doesn't happen. Have some faith in her… okay?" implored Natalia.

Ivan merely nodded in response, the two of them descending into silence once more.

A frown pulled at Natalia's mouth as she stood behind Ivan, unsure if she should say anything more or perhaps try and reach out to him in attempt to comfort him.

Hesitantly Natalia reached out with her hand and placed it on her brother's shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance as she moved next to him. She smiled slightly as she noticed a grateful look pass over her brother's face, glad she hadn't frightened him off like she normally did.

Slowly the minutes went by as the duo waited for their older sister by the window, though it wasn't long before the minutes added up and over an hour had already gone by. The weather had finally seemed to settle somewhat yet here was still no sign of Yekaterina. Even Natalia was beginning to doubt she would arrive after all...

Suddenly a loud buzz rang throughout the house indicating that someone was at the front door. Ivan and Natalia both looked at each other and grinned before they both rushed towards the front door.

As soon as they made it to the door they pulled it wide open not caring if any snow came into the house, only for their faces to drop upon noticing no one there.

"I told you she wasn't coming," said Ivan letting the sadness well up inside him.  
"Then… who rang the doorbell?" questioned Natalia, knowing the doorbell would not ring on its own.  
"It doesn't matter…" replied Ivan as he turned around to head back inside.  
"Ivan… wait," she said, noticing something vaguely moving in the distance above the snow in front of their door. "Its… Its Yekaterina!" she shouted as she started to climb up the snow.

It wasn't long before Natalia made her way up and started to run towards the figure through the snow, Ivan following not that far behind her.

As soon as the duo made it to their older sister they wrapped their arms around her and gave her a massive hug, both exceedingly happy that she had made it after all.

"Guys… can't breathe…" mumbled Yekaterina, breathing a sigh of relief as her siblings lessened their grip on her.  
"I thought you weren't going to come…" admitted Ivan as he continued to hug his older sister.  
"What took you so long?" demanded Natalia.  
"Sorry, it's been a long day and the weather didn't make it any easier to get here but I'm here now and that's all that matters," said Yekaterina as she hugged her younger siblings back and proceeded to ruffle the top of their heads, a smile on her face.

All of a sudden a loud bang was heard in the distance causing the trio to stop hugging each other and look around. Upon looking around they all noticed the entrance to Ivan's house was now completely blocked with snow that had obviously fallen from the roof.

"When I get my hands on that Romanian…" muttered Ivan as he slowly made his way back to his house, a trail of kolkolkol's leaving his mouth as he went and an imitating aura seeming to seep out of him.

"Oh dear…" mumbled Yekaterina as she followed after Ivan, her sister Natalia laughing next to her as she went.


End file.
